Right in the centre - There comes a time
- Details
- Published on Friday, February 5, 2016
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
There comes a time in every person’s life where they have to look after themselves. It happens every day. We set aside our work, our public obligations and we feed ourselves, we sleep, we look after the personal stuff. If we don’t, it makes for a very unhealthy life.
We all know that and our days develop into a routine where some sense of looking after ourselves has to take place. Some do it better than others.
So it is with public life as well. Some people go on and on and serve their public duties very well and seemingly forever. They seem to do so with an endless energy. However, that too comes to an end and we see it most often and most publicly in politicians. They all have to quit some day, although a few do die in office.
In April of 2015, I attended the Manitoba NDP leadership convention as media. I know a lot of the players in the NDP party, being on first name basis with many of them. When you are involved with politics at the local, provincial and federal level and combine that with a newspaper career, you meet a lot of politicians of all stripes. And, in spite of our political differences, we all talk to each other. Some of the NDP members are my friends.
One of those people I know well enough to talk to in some depth is Jennifer Howard. She was very despondent at the NDP convention. She didn’t support Greg Selinger and she made it very public. We all know the story of the five cabinet ministers, including Howard, who pulled the pin in the hopes that Selinger would step down. He didn’t and he won by about 30 votes, a marginal victory to say the least. After the voting, I again talked to Howard and I said, “Jennifer, when all is said and done, look after yourself.” She obviously came to that same conclusion and although she was the nominated candidate for the April 2016 general election, she’s not going to run.
Howard has a family that includes two very young children. That’s a good reason to step down. She has been in politics a long time, even though she is still young. She also has strong differences with Selinger and she also knows that her election would not be easy. The NDP could well lose that seat as it is being contested by the Liberal leader. If a person looks at the federal election results, they will find a lot of people voted liberal in that area of Winnipeg and those votes could well transplant to the provincial Liberals.
The NDP is currently on a steep slide. So much so that one would wonder why some other people are still sticking around. Stan Struthers is quitting and for many of the same reasons as Howard. Gord Mackintosh is quitting, but he is a bit older and may be just plain tired of the game. Why people like Ron Lemieux and Dave Chomiak are staying on board is a bit of a puzzle. I know both men fairly well and they have been dedicated foot soldiers in the NDP party.
It’s doubtful if the NDP can recover. One only has to look at the past three times the NDP came to power. It was always on a change wave. They can’t ride that wave this time, not after 17 years in power. In 1969, newly minted leader, Ed Schreyer rode a wave of discontent against Duff Roblin’s party which was then led by Walter Weir. Howard Pawley rode the wave of discontent with Sterling Lyon. Gary Doer, who lost three times before winning, rode a wave of discontent against Gary Filmon. This time around, the wave of discontent is totally owned by the NDP. Voter patience is wearing thin with the misplaced spending, the debt and the failure to address their signature 1999 issue, namely hospital wait times.
So some of the politicians aren’t running again. They have come to the conclusion that when all is said and done, a person has to look after themselves. Whether it be food, exercise, sleep or a change of a career, the time comes when change has to be made. Howard, Struthers, Macintosh and several others have made that decision. They did the right thing for themselves and I commend them for that.
